DIY Confetti Earrings

I’ve been asked a few times where I get my ideas from. While creative ideas can be sometimes be elusive, sometimes they hit me instantly. The other night I was actually working on another project involving a hole puncher – the kind that has a little reservoir to catch the punched paper. When I opened the plastic hatch and dumped out the dots, they formed a really fantastic linear shape – random, but still linear. Instead of instantly sweeping them aside, I paused and stared at them for a bit. The arrangement just looked really pretty. Then the idea hit me that it would make a beautiful piece of jewelry if I could do it. So I did it! And I thought I’d share this with you because it was a great lesson in how a creative idea is formed. It wasn’t just a pile of confetti. It’s art that can be used, transformed, or manipulated into something else.

Can you believe it’s just paper? They are delicate, no doubt. I wouldn’t jump into a swimming pool with them on, but if you baby them, they should hold up decently. But who cares if they only last one wearing. They are awesome and practically free.

It’s like a party on your ears!

All you need is a hole punch, some pretty paper (the thicker the better, as long as your hole punch will go through it), hot glue, really thin wire (I used 32 gauge) and some earring hooks.

Step 1: Punch out your circles. I used 9-10 circles for mine. (A friend of mine suggested using shellac or spray varnish on the dots to make them for longer wear.)

Step 2: Using just tiny dabs of hot glue, start arranging and glueing your dots together in a random, but linear fashion. You want them to look like they are falling.

Step 3: Clip a small piece of wire and hot glue onto your bottom circle. This is what will connect the final dangling circle to give it the illusion of falling.

Step 4: Hot glue the final dot to the other end of the wire.

Step 5: Attach your earring hooks by punching a tiny hole in your finished piece with a straight pin. I’m not a jeweler, so there may be a better way to do it, but I just latched mine directly onto the hook.

That’s it! Sorry I don’t have any step-by-step photos of the process. But if you have questions, just leave them in the comments!

On a side note, I will be extending my Art from Everyday Objects Challenge as a regular part of my posting every month. But to add some closure to February’s challenge, here is a wrap up of the projects: